Durham Reporter

Two communities held gatherings Wednesday to show support for the victims of mass shootings, lift their voices, and demand change.

“I just didn't want that fear and anger to paralyze me into inaction,” Natasha Williams, who helped organize one of the gatherings, told WTVD. “So tonight, in our own way, we want the world to know that we want change.”

Wednesday’s meetings were in Durham and Morrisville. Williams helped bring mothers together in Morrisville, where people read the names of those who have been killed in recent shootings, like the ones in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.

Between the two communities lie about 20 miles of highway; from the time reporters left the Morrisville meeting to cover the Durham one, news broke about the latest mass shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"We have to start trying to find what makes us a community,” Rev. Sandy Key said, as he explained the purpose of the gathering at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham.

Key brought personal experience dealing with violence to the meeting. Before becoming a minister, he was a police officer in Charleston, South Carolina, and was shot while on duty.

“Does (being shot) hold me back?” he asked. "No, I think it teaches me the importance of forgiveness; teaches me the importance of really being there for each other. Tonight, is just about this conversation of how we move from the fear to trust to love."

The public gathering was a way to let people air their emotions and learn that many people have shared concerns.

"I really do worry for the safety of our grandchildren now,” one attendee said.

Another thanked organizers for bringing people together.

“I was very glad this meeting was called,” the woman said. “Because I found myself with the last shooting being very angry, being very scared, being very sad.”